Renukaradhya Gourapura DVM, PhD

Assistant Professor
Food Animal Health Research Program
Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
The Ohio State University
1680 Madison Avenue
Wooster, OH 44691

Bio
Dr. Gourapura received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in Veterinary Science from the University of Agricultural Sciences and his PhD in Microbiology and Cell Biology from the Indian Institute of Science, both in Bangalore, India. He served as a National Research Services Award Trainee in Indiana University’s School of Medicine before joining the Ohio State University as a faculty member in the Food Animal Health Research Program and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. His research involves developing and testing influenza virus M2e-based vaccines in mice and pigs, evaluating the effectiveness of intranasal nanovaccination in pigs, and developing strategies to enhance PRRS- specific innate and mucosal immunity in pigs. In recent years, Dr. Gourapura co-wrote several book chapters in the areas of immunology and vaccinology, and co-patented methods for treating and preventing porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.

Research

My laboratory research focus is on mucosal immunology of food animals infected with infectious and zoonotic diseases. Unlike systemic delivery, mucosal delivery of potent vaccines is gaining increased attention to increase the breadth of cross-protective immunity against infections which cause severe disease at mucosal sites. We are interested to understand mucosal immune responses in pigs and other species of food animals to viral and bacterial infections, and to vaccines delivered directly to mucosal sites. Currently, we are evaluating potent bacterial-based and synthetic adjuvants, which were proven effective and safe in other species of animals to use in food animals. Our ongoing studies are aimed to potentiate the cross-protective efficacy of modified live virus and biodegradable nanoparticle-entrapped inactivated virus vaccines of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus and influenza virus, co-administered intranasally with a potent adjuvant to pigs. Other focus of our study is to understand host-pathogen interactions, viral pathogenesis, and immune evasion mechanisms in food animals infected with viral and bacterial pathogens; and developing a pig model for biomedical research.